The Owl
by loopycathair
Summary: Aliya Sohma a virtualy unknown member of the zodiac, she is beaten costantly by Akito. The only prolem is she can't feel, die or cry. A old childhood friend of kyo, Akito is bored and decides to give her away as a gift to his fav zodiac Yuki! Yuki/OC


**NEW AND IMPROVED EDITED VERSION OF THE OWL!**

**(CHAPTER ONE: BLACK EYES)**

Aliya Sohma watched the door to her cell open quietly; Akito thundered in breathing in short bursts his chest heaving. Aliya lifted an eyebrow but otherwise looked unaffected by his sudden entrance, he glared at her and unfurled a whip that had until now been wrapped tightly around his upper arm. Akito glared at her angrily, he did not like it when she simply stared at him with those owlish eyes of her they made him nervous. And Akito hated being nervous it filled him with rage every time he whipped her he got no response every day he came trying to get her to breakdown, to cry out, to yell scream anything he hated her more than anything well everything excepting the Cat. Oh the horrible, disgusting, stupid cat every time he thought about the cat a white hot rage began to curl up in the pit of his stomach. He tried to beat out his frustration on Aliya, but she never wavered, never reacted at all just stared at him with those lifeless black eyes of hers, reminding him of his fate, reminding him he was going to die, reminding him that he had no control over his own fate and he hated her for it.

That evening he was particularly angry, some girl some nobody named Tohru Honda was living with his Yuki! How dare she! Could she lift the curse? No! And that awful cat was staying with them, Akito growled under his breath. Aliya didn't move, Akito sighed tiredly he was tired of the girl, he was tired of the cat continually denying his fate, he was tired of meddlesome people like Tohru Honda who could do nothing to help the Sohmas, and God damn it he was tired of being alive! Akito leaned back against the door holding his face in his hands, what was he going to do? He didn't want this stupid girl in the main house anymore, she wasn't any fun to torture and nothing he said seemed to have any effect on her. He had to find something she could do to be useful, he glanced over at her, she was sitting in the same position she'd been in before, the same lifeless none responsive look on her face.

Akito's mind suddenly switched subjects, from something very unpleasant to something quite pleasing. "Yuki..." Akito purred out every syllable as if it were a secret prayer and pleased smile replaced the pained grimace that had previously been sewn onto his features. He suddenly threw the thick whip into the farther corner of the dark room. He dropped down towards Aliya and grasped her chin firmly turning her face from side to side inspecting every angle of her pale face. Her dark black eyes stared at him calmly as if she had not just been beaten by the head of the Sohma family, as if Akito was not right in front of her jerking her face from side to side roughly examining each and every tiny detail. He grabbed a few strands of her dark chocolate brown hair in his skeletal white hands, running it through his fingers. He then reached for her hands which were clasped loosely in her lap, he ran his fingers across her pale delicately shaped hands, like fragile butterflies elegant and smooth as silk. He pressed his hand flat against her stomach flat and firm, his hands cupped her small firm breasts. Yes, Yuki would definitely like her; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before.

"You will make a wonderful gift Aliya." He led her out of her cell and took them back to his chambers. A maid was crossing into a room on the other side of the hall.

"You, go get Hatori!" He barked out at her as he dashed into his room dragging Aliya by her thin delicate wrists.

"Sit!" He shouted at her, she sat down on the small purple mat placed right before Akito's mound of pillows and blankets. Footsteps echoed further down the hall Hatori was coming, Akito chuckled darkly a black smirk painted his face and Aliya stared lifelessly forward.

**(CHAPTER TWO: ENTER THE DRAGON)**

The footsteps stopped outside and gently pushed the thin door to the side. Hatori entered quietly his eyes darting from Akito's cruelly amused smirk to Aliya's dark endless eyes; a slightly worried look flew across his face for an instant at the sight of Aliya Sohma in Akito's chambers. Hatori stepped forward and closed the door quickly, before he sat down. Akito's insane smile broadened at Hatori's confusion, before dragging himself off his comfortable mound of pillows to tell Hatori of his brilliant plan.

"Hatori, I've just had a wonderful idea. Can you guess it?" He smiled at Hatori not really needing an answer but demanding that he ask. Hatori breathed deeply and answered hesitantly.

"What is it Akito-sama?" Hatori felt fear build up in his stomach as ideas as to why Akito would be so happy about something that included Aliya. Akito raised his arm and dragged his index finger lazily down Aliya's jaw-bone, finally resting his hand at her thin swan like neck curling his fingers tightly at the base of her neck. Akito's hand tightened around her neck until his knuckles became white Aliya's chest stopped rising and falling but her eyes remained unfocused and dull. Three minutes passed in that way Akito strangling the unresponsive Aliya, Hatori staring at Aliya in evident horror she should be dead right now it was medically impossible for any human being to go without breathing for more than three minutes. Three minutes and thirty-six seconds slipped by and still Akito strangled her, still her chest did not rise or fall still Hatori stared horrified at the spectacle before him.

"H-how?" Hatori finally managed to breath out the question. Akito's hand slipped back to hanging limply at his side, Aliya's chest slowly resumed inhaling and exhaling, she seemed perfectly fine Hatori stared at her terror blazing in his eyes.

"She's a monster how should I know?!" Akito snapped out glaring at Aliya's slightly bruised neck.

"Anyway back to my idea Hatori, I need you to take care of any wounds she may have and make her presentable for Yuki-kun." Akito was smiling again. Hatori inhaled sharply what on earth was going on? How had Yuki been brought up?

"What… Have you decided Akito-sama?" Hatori waited with baited breath his mind buzzing as if it had suddenly become filled with thousands of furious wasps. Akito's smile became darker more sinister, his eyes flashed insanely.

"I'm giving her to Yuki-kun as a gift." The word gift was almost a purr. Hatori inwardly shuddered at the thought that the girl was being given away like an object and yet she offered no resistance. Hatori was jerked out of his thoughts by Akito's high shrill voice.

"Go! Make her presentable, now Hatori!" Akito gave a low shout he didn't like being kept waiting. Hatori nodded quietly and grasped her upper arm gently and tugged her out of the room into the hallway and towards his office. He yanked his door open and pulled her inside after him. He leaned against the door breathing heavily, he looked over at his companion she seemed to be studying his room her eyes darting back and forth, from object to object. Finally they landed on the picture of Kana; Aliya walked forward and touched the glass momentarily.

"Kana. You're lover." It was not a question. Aliya's eyes pierced his, delving into his memories of Kana and their doomed love affair. Images passed before his eyes at lightning speed Kana skipping ahead as they went out to eat lunch, Kana apologizing for turning him into a seahorse for the very first time, Kana smiling warmly at him as he told her he loved her. Aliya turned and placed the photograph back on its shelf releasing Hatori from her powerful stare. Hatori let go of a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and clutched at his chest trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. What had Aliya done to him? He stared at her for a moment longer and then remembering what he had brought her here for lead her over to an old trunk full of women's clothes. He had to make her presentable...

**(CHAPTER THREE: BAD NEWS)**

_Presentable, presentable, how did you make someone presentable?! _Hatori was beginning to panic, he started to pace across his office. What exactly was Akito planning? What did it have to do with Aliya and Yuki? Couldn't Akito have just gotten a maid to clean Aliya up? Hatori knew nothing about dressing women, what if Akito thought Hatori's choices were inappropriate? It was all too confusing, it was late at night, Tohru was down with a cold and to top it all off he had had to spend the earlier part of the evening with those two idiots he called friends Shigure and Ayame, who had gone on and on about the latest order at Ayame's shop and the most recent novel Shigure had written.

"Hatori." For the first time in years, Aliya's deep husky voice passed through her lips. It had an instant calming effect, worries were pushed to the back of his mind, and he almost felt like going to sleep. When had her voice become so mellow and smooth? _'Make her presentable now Hatori!'_ Akito's cold sharp voice rang through his thoughts; he jerked his head up so fast that a loud 'crack!' came from his neck. He gently massaged his neck and looked down at his lap only to find that he was currently sitting in his black arm-chair. _How did I end up here?_

Aliya's hand passed over his eyes and her soothing voice blocked everything even Akito out of Hatori's mind as he fell asleep to the sound of Aliya's hypnotizing voice.

"Sleep..." And he did.

(35 MINUTES LATER)

"Hatori." Aliya's voice called Hatori back from his dreams of Kana and into the present. Hatori stared wide awake and looked franticly around as if he expected Akito to jump out of his closet. He looked up towards Aliya; she had changed into a midnight blue tank top and a pair of slightly baggy faded blue jeans. She had brushed her hair until it shined and had then worked it into a tight braid with two lengths of brown hair framing her face. She had even bandaged her own injuries, and after checking over her work and making sure they would heal properly Hatori decided that she looked presentable. They made their way out of Hatori's office and back towards Akito's chambers.

When they entered Akito threw an analyzing look at Aliya's outfit, and then gave Hatori a curt nod. Signaling his silent approval of what he assumed Hatori had picked out for her. Akito rose up off his nest of cushions and looked towards Hatori,

"Call Shigure tell him we are coming over for a visit." A wicked smile stretched across his face. Hatori nodded to Akito as he went out into the hall towards the nearest telephone.

"Brrriingg..."

"Brrinnggg..."

"Click."

"Hello this is Shigure speaking." Shigure's voice answered on the third ring, Hatori sighed he didn't like being the bearer of bad news but...

"Shigure, this is Hatori."

"Ha'ri!" Shigure let out a happy squeak that resembled his name.

"Bad news, Akitos coming to visit." Hatori said in a grim voice. The other line was silent for a moment as if Shigure hoped that by not answering he could stop Akito from coming. They both knew better, nothing could stop Akito from doing exactly what he wanted.

"Why?" Shigure's strained voice just managed to reach Hatori's ears.

"He's bringing something for Yuki." Hatori managed to growl out.

"What are you talking about?" Hatori could see the suspicious frown forming on the dog's face.

"Aliya." There was complete silence on the other end of the connection and then a loud 'Click!' As Shigure slammed the phone back into the cradle only to have it fall of and dangle from its coiled cord. Hatori sighed and placed the phone down far more gently than Shigure had. He returned to Akito and Aliya and they went down to the car.

**(CHAPTER FOUR: INTRODUCTIONS)**

If possible Hatori seemed to be wearing an even darker expression then before. Akito was waiting by the door his hand firmly clamped onto Aliya's wrist. A sigh escaped the dragons lips Yuki wasn't going to like this, Akito was asking for trouble deciding to give him Aliya. The girl may not act like it but she could be incredibly cruel, she knew the pathways of the mind and though her power was mostly only ever used to heal the mind she had once had the mighty Akito groveling at her feet. It had been terrifying to see the great Sohma head writhe in pain at the Owl's limited mercy.

**-----FLASHBACK------**

Akito was seven years old and it was the night of the New Year's party. At the beginning of the feast there was the ceremony of honoring the God to be preformed, each member of the zodiac was to bow to the current head of the family and present a small gift. Dog, Rat, Snake, Bore, Tiger, Dragon, Ram, Rabbit, Rooster, Horse, Monkey, Ox, all but one... It was Aliya's turn the Owl stepped forward hands empty, she refused to bow before Akito.

"Bow to your God!" Akito screeched fury lighting his face. Aliya raised her small hand and motioned at the long table where the members of the zodiac sat staring at her in shock.

"Where is the Cat?" Aliya's face became cold and her voice was like a thousand icy needles. Akito glared at her.

"That piece of filth is not a member of the zodiac as I have already informed you!" Akito snarled. As he finished speaking Aliya's fierce glare transformed into a sinister smile. She raised her arm and let it fall. Suddenly Akito was curled up in his throne, rocking back and forth whimpering in pain and shaking all over.

"H-hatori s-st-stop her!" Akito managed to get out. Teenage Hatori rushed out from behind the table and pulled Aliya's arms behind her as she struggled fiercely against him.

"Cowards!!" She screamed at them, hatred visible in her every feature.

"Why do you think you were born a member of the zodiac!? To live in the main house under the tyrant they call a God!?! Fight! You idiots the Cat is a rightful member of the zodiac. If any one of us deserves to be thrown out it's the Rat! It is his nature to betray and betray and betray until all is destroyed!" She screamed and fought against Hatori with all her strength.

"You call Akito a God?! He's only a year older than me! He is sick and weak and destined to die! Imprison him as he plans to imprison the Cat!" The other zodiac stared at her raging hatred in awe, a mere six year old could harm their God, a mere six year old was telling them to imprison the God before it was too late before he became stronger, a mere six year old was telling them to break free and live their lives.

"Throw her out Hatori!" Akito ordered angrily.

**-----END FLASHBACK----**

Yes that day played through Hatori's mind many times had Aliya been right? Should they have overthrown the God? What was the zodiacs purpose for living?

"Why do you think you were born a member of the zodiac!? To live in the main house under the tyrant they call a God!? Fight!"

Fight...

Fight...

Fight.

And why didn't they fight back? Were they really cowards just like Aliya said all those years ago? Hatori shook his head quietly as he eased up on the gas and slowly pressed down on the break. They were at Shigure's house. Akito pushed passed Hatori as he opened his door, pulling Aliya along with him towards the front door. Akito rapped on the door three times quickly.

"Coming." Hatori recognized Tohru's voice instantly, and inwardly let out a groan. The sliding door opened revealing Tohru's smiling face, her smile instantly left. Akito's smile broadened considerably.

"Hello Tohru, I'm just here to give Yuki a little present." Akito pushed passed her and down the hallway he rushed into the dining room. When they entered all three pairs of eyes turned towards them.

"Yuki I would like you to meet Aliya Sohma."

**(CHAPTER FIVE: I HATE THEM)**

And was answered with silence as three pairs of eyes shot back and forth between Aliya and Akito. Aliya's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly towards Kyo the left side of her mouth twitched slightly. Kyo stared back in shock, what was Aliya doing here? Akito looked confused when Yuki did not answer immediately.

"Yuki?" Akito asked expectantly a slight note of irritation audible in his voice, he stared pointedly at Yuki.

"Oh, I, yes thank you Akito." Was Yuki's insincere response, still looking slightly frozen under Akito's penetrating gaze. A somewhat insane smile responded to Yuki's voice.

"Yes Aliya this is Yuki you will be performing any tasks he may ask of you, isn't that right Aliya?" A note of menace entered his voice towards the end of the sentence, he was looking pointedly at Aliya now daring her to refuse him. Her head turned at an impossible angle as she stared at Yuki, Yuki felt a shiver run down his spine under the weight of her stare. She nodded her head one inch up and then down her owlish eyes silently promising years worth of suffering if he ever attempted to order her. Tohru looked between Aliya and Yuki confusion written across her face, Akito smirked satisfied as he pushed Aliya towards Yuki and turned sharply on his heal towards the door.

"Come on Hatori time to go." And with that Akito left. Yuki cleared his throat and looked down uncomfortably while Aliya continued to stare at him. Tohru got up nervously and approached Aliya,

"A-ano, Aliya-san I'll get you some food, please make yourself comfortable." Tohru fidgeted slightly as Aliya shifted her gaze to Tohru. She tilted her head to the side a flicker of confusion in her gaze. And then she spoke,

"Tohru Honda?" Her husky voice seemed to fill every corner of their small dining room, though she spoke very quietly. Tohru froze when their eyes met, and just as suddenly she could see her entire life pass before her eyes. Her mother and father smiled down at her, they were going grocery shopping, it was her 5th birthday and her mother had given her a pretty set of blue ribbons, her mother was dead, she was living in the woods in a tent, the Sohmas had taken her in, Kyo challenging Yuki to a fight for the first time, Kyo turning into a cat, Yuki turning into a rat, Shigure turning into a dog, school with Uo and Hana, everything she had ever done or experienced flashed before her eyes. And then she found herself back in her small dining room with Kyo and Yuki on either side of her shaking her shoulders, worried looks on their faces.

"Miss Honda? Miss Honda!?" Yuki sounded anxious, Tohru turned to Yuki confused.

"What happened?" She asked innocently.

"What the hell do ya mean what happened!? You were talking to her and then ya just fazed out!" Kyo shouted angrily.

"Oh.. I don't know." Tohru replied worried now, cringing slightly as Kyo shouted.

"Kyo, stop yelling." Kyo turned sharply as Aliya spoke to him, eyes narrowing.

"Who are you to talk!?! I can yell all I want! Besides where have you been all these years!?! You just disappear one day and then Akito brings you and all this shit about you being the damn Rat's slave! What the hell's going on!!" Kyo yelled starting to cry. Aliya's eyes dropped.

"I've been locked up." She answered sadly. Kyo's eyes shot up and he let out a gust of air as if it had been knocked out of him. And then suddenly he had his arms around her, his cheek pressed against hers.

"I'm so sorry, I missed you." He said in a shaky voice, a small smile light her face.

"I missed you too." She answered. They let go of each other and Aliya sat down beside him across from Tohru and Yuki.

"So Aliya-san you and Kyo are friends? What about the rest of the zodiac?" Tohru asked brimming with curiosity.

"I hate them."

**( CHAPTER SIX: HIS PROTECTOR )**

"You hate them?" A look of complete shock and confusion overcame her curiosity. Kyo held Aliya tighter as if he hadn't heard her stating that she hated his entire family. Aliya's arms encircled his much larger torso. Tohru looked back and forth between Kyo and Aliya and then focusing on Yuki her eyes begging him to explain, Yuki sighed.

"The zodiac is Kyo's enemy, and Kyo's enemies are Aliya's enemies. She is a Cat supporter, as you can see. You throw in the fact that they've been best friends since they were small children, and you get Kagura's rival, Aliya Sohma the Owl." Yuki said this all in one breath trying to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Kyo and Aliya broke apart as Yuki finished his explanation, they settled together on the other side, Kyo draped his arm around her.

"Aliya what did he do to you?! Are you ok?" Kyo looked rather frantic at the moment holding her at arm's length examining all the visible damage he could. Aliya smiled at him and placed her palm on his chest.

"Shhh.. I'm perfectly fine Kyo don't worry. You remember what I told you when we were very young and you were afraid of pain? Do you remember what I tried to teach you?" She waited for a second when suddenly a look of horror filled realization hit his face, he gaped at her. He remembered,

**-----FLASHBACK-----**

"Aly! Aly!" 5 year old Kyo raced from the main house hot tears streaming down his cheeks, a jagged whiplash stretched across his arm a vivid red even against his tanned skin. A 6 year old Aliya rushed out of a garden she had been exploring, racing towards the sound of her Kyo's nickname for her 'Aly'. What could be wrong!?

"Kyo! Kyo?! Where are you Kyo?!?" She shouted back trying to locate her best friend. She turned a corner and ran straight into him bouncing back and landing in the middle of the hallway.

"Kyo what happened? Kyo what's wrong!?" She scrambled up and closed the distance between them reaching out for Kyo's small hand, she pulled him back up. Then they sat in the middle of the hallway and talked.

"And when Akito asked how I was feeling and I told him I was happy, he got so mad Aly!" Kyo shivered in Aliya's tight embrace as he remembered Akito's face hovering above him furious, the crack of a whip echoed in his mind. And he thought he felt Akito's hand covering his forehead, he jerked back a reflex he had developed over the past year.

"It's ok Kyo I know, don't worry you didn't do anything wrong." She stroked his soft orange hair a gesture that just seemed to come naturally when Kyo was in pain. He whimpered, and pulled her closer she let him.

"Aly, I'm scared." He whispered into her kimono.

"What are you scared of Kyo?" She whispered back.

"I'm scared of pain, Aly it hurts so much teach me how to get rid of it." He pleaded, desperate. Aliya paused considering her options.

"Ok Kyo." They had sat there half the night Aliya showing him how to breathe deeply and concentrate on one thing and let the thought fill up every corner of your body, leaving no room left for the pain to fill. It was midnight and Kyo had fallen asleep, she had remembered to warn him that this method was only to be used as a last resort and came with heavy consequences. But, she promised herself Kyo would never be in that position she wouldn't allow it. She would be his protector.

**( CHAPTER SEVEN: CROWN OF THORNS )**

Kyo was still staring at her, why would she use that? What had been so horrible that she had had to use a technique that had such terrible consequences? He opened and closed his mouth several times trying to think of something to say.

"Don't worry Kyo it's not half as bad as it seems." She was looking down at her arm where there was a faint tattoo of spiky black thorns circling her small wrist. Kyo's eyes fallowed hers slowly as if afraid of what he might see, when his eyes finally rested on the black thorns thin and sharply contrasting with her pale skin he let out a kind of strangled moan.

"No, no, no... There has to be some way to get rid of it oh, Aly, Aly, please say you can reverse it." He was pleading with her, no he was begging her. Aliya looked at Kyo with soft sadness glittering in her chocolate brown orbs.

"Kyo it really isn't so bad. Don't be sad, it's more like a blessing. I don't have to go on living when you're gone I made sure all the calculations were correct, I'll die 60 years from now. I'm 17 now that's 77 years Kyo, that's an almost normal human lifespan. Don't cry Kyo!" She begged. Kyo looked up at her like she was insane.

"Aliya you don't understand you would have lived hundreds of years, thousands! You would be free from the Sohmas, free to fall in love with anyone you wanted Aliya, Akito would be dead, dead!" He almost shouted. Aliya stared back at him her eyes dark,

"But you'd be dead too Kyo." Her voice flat and cold, Kyo stared at her incredulous.

"W-what did you say?" His voice was hoarse.

"You mean to tell me that you cut your life short because of me?" Horror was filling his face again.

"I refuse to live in a world without you." She looked him straight in the eyes as she said this, she was serious. Tohru came back into the room a tray of slightly cold food in her hands, she placed it in front of Aliya.

"What is it Kyo? Aliya-san?" Confusion filled her eyes as she looked from Aliya's coldly calm face to Kyo's despairing expression.

"Nothing Tohru thank you for the food, it's delicious." Aliya said quickly taking a bite. Yuki whispered into Tohru's ear,

"I'll tell you later." Not that whispering made any real difference since it was the Owl sitting across from them, she heard everything. They finished their now completely cold dinners, Kyo simply going through the motions. Kyo headed up first, Aliya followed after stopping briefly at the foot of the stairs,

"I'm staying in Kyo's room, I don't mind you telling her but try not to be too bias." A bit of sarcasm lacing her voice towards the end of the sentence, Yuki nodded. Yuki turned to Tohru and began explaining their lives together, Aliya standing up for Kyo whenever people bullied him, Aliya fighting the rest of the Zodiac at the tender age of six, how the Owl had incredible powers that allowed it to live for thousands of years. Finally he was almost done,

"What she's done is cut her lifespan short, it allows her body to undergo any kind of physical wound without actually receiving any pain or lasting damage. You could break her neck and she wouldn't bat an eye, of course now she'll die at 77. And then there's the tattoo it will spread all across her body until she's completely covered it only stops when it's circled her forehead she will carry her crown of thorns until she dies."

**( CHAPTER EIGHT: I'M SORRY )**

Kyo sat in his dark room, worries and stray images of what he imagined Aliya must have suffered at Akito's hands flashing before his eyes. Rage towards Akito began to build deep in the pit of his stomach, what he wouldn't do to Akito if he weren't the Cat! He was squeezing his pillow with so much force that his arms began to ache, but he did not loosen his grip. He imagined it was Akito he was squeezing the life out of and not his thoroughly innocent pillow. And then he felt a pang of guilt, it was his fault. It was his fault that Aliya had been imprisoned, if he had just left her alone if he had just never been friends with her in the first place. There was a quite noise behind him like a door being opened and closed.

"Leave me alone," Kyo growled out.

"No." Aliya's voice answered firmly, Kyo's back stiffened as her hand rested on his shoulder.

"Aly.. How can you not be angry at me? If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been imprisoned." She sat down behind making a soft hushing sound in his ear.

"Kyo it was worth it as long as you never have to go there again." Her voice was calm and cool, it was like a quiet wave had passed through his brain. Her arms wrapped around his waist, she began to hum a song they had sung together as children, his eyes began to droop, his breathing slowed. Right before he fell asleep he managed to get out,

"Thanks Aly..." She uncurled her arms and put him on his side in his bed. A sad smile overcame her face as she watched him curl up like a cat under the covers. She lay down beside him and whispered into his chest,

"I'm sorry."

**( CHAPTER NINE: WAKE UP! )**

Warm sunshine flooded Kyo's room, Aliya blinked sleepily looking around the room in confusion for a moment. Where am I? And then her eyes caught sight of the mass of glittering orange hair, she felt her heart stop for a moment in shock. Not that her heart stopping really mattered any more.

Akito...Now she remembered, Akito had brought her here to serve under the rat. A low growl escaped her throat, the arrogant bastard! And then she sighed, it wouldn't do any good to get angry at Akito. Although her first instinct was to go straight to the Main house and torture him until he was a shivering puddle of fear begging her to kill him. For a moment she toyed with the idea, but then tossed it aside she had bigger things to take care of. Speaking of which she should talk to Yuki before everyone woke up.

Aliya stood up quietly, and made her way across the hall and into the Rat's dark room. If she had been anyone but the Owl she wouldn't have been able to see a thing but seeing as she was the Owl she could quite clearly see the Rat tangled up in his blanket, arms and legs sticking out at odd angles. Seeing him asleep childlike innocence consuming his features she could almost believe that if he hadn't been the Rat they could have been friends. But no she shook her head furiously, he was the Rat and he always would be.

The Rat couldn't be trusted, he cares only for himself. He was a born betrayer, he will bring his closest friends and family to a moment of danger and then forsake them to save his own skin. That was what she had thought of him ever since she had heard the adults talking among themselves during the New Year's festival before her fifth birthday.

**-----FLASHBACK-----**

It was five minutes till midnight, the moon shined full and bright against the black velvet sky. A five year old Aliya was playing hide and seek with the other children of the zodiac, she was searching through the bushes getting the knees of her pale silver kimono dirty. When she happened to hear her Aunt talking with some of the more mature Sohma family members, she stopped to listen,

"Yes that little Owl girl seems very clever, and so pretty!" Someone's grandmother said, Aliya swelled with pride.

"And have you seen the Rat? Children of the Rat really are special." Another said.

"Children of the Cat on the other hand.."

**-----END FLASHBACK----**

Yes that's what started it, young as she had been she had realized that for some reason the adults didn't like the Cat. The fallowing day she had followed her around asking her mother every question she could think of about the Rat and the Cat. When her mother told her about the Rat tricking the Cat into missing the God's banquet she had thought it was a cruel thing of the Rat to do. She had felt sorry for the Cat, and the next day had gone to meet him. That was how she had gone against the entire zodiac. She shook her head it was no time to be lost in the past.

She knelt down beside Yuki and gently shook his shoulder, he rolled over towards her and she suddenly found his arms locked around her waist. For a moment she was too surprised to move, and then she began tugging at his wrists. She could have easily broken the boy's arms off but that didn't seem to be the best idea at the moment. Her eyes narrowed, the Rat though currently asleep was making her task increasingly difficult, and she was getting annoyed. Suddenly her irritated frown became a smirk, the Owl had just had an idea, a wonderful, terrible idea. She closed her eyes and reached out through her mind and into the Rats unprotected thoughts. She established a connection with his mind, he was having a dream in which he worked in a small garden. Aliya brushed the dream away she wasn't interested in the Rats dreams, she took a deep breath and,

"WAKE UP!"She shouted at him through her mind, Yuki shot up immediately. Knocked Aliya over because his arms were still holding her, and found himself blinking down at a shocked Owl whose eyes were wide with surprise. This was such an unexpected situation he did not register for a moment what had happened, he was lying on top of Aliya Sohma who in this light and without her customary glare he had to admit looked gorgeous.

**( CHAPTER TEN: MEMORY REMEMBERED )**

The room was filled with a foreboding silence, the first pink tendrils of sunlight crept through the blinds and illuminated their shock-filled faces. Yuki scrambled up franticly apologizing as he held a hand out to help her up. Aliya looked up at him curiously wondering about the look he had had in his eyes a moment ago..

"Yuki," She began in a quiet voice, Yuki cringed and raised his arms to protect his face he remembered what had happened to people who made Aliya angry. Akito's cowering form flashed before his eyes, a hand touched his wrist. Yuki's eyes flashed open,

"It's ok, I'm not angry." Yuki blinked, confusion written across his face.

"Why?"A sad smile crept onto her face, she still hadn't let go of his hand. Yuki blushed, wait why was he blushing this was Aliya, and the owl she hated him. A led weight seemed to settle in the pit of his stomach, he shook his head and focused on listening to Aliya.

"Do you want me to bring back you suppressed memory's?" She asked quietly. Yuki's eyes went wide for a second, he let out a shaky breath, and nodded. She pressed her hand to his forehead and uttered one word,

"Relax."

**--FLASHBACK—**

Yuki was sitting on the little porch attached to Akito's room, it was the only place he was allowed to be. A bird was singing nearby it almost made him smile but then he remembered what happened to the other birds that sang outside Akito's window, they were dead, their tiny skeletons littered the ground underneath the porch. As he stood on the porch he couldn't help but think it was like dancing on their graves. Not that Akito cared what Yuki thought. All that mattered to Akito was that the rest of the Zodiac was miserable with him.

What Akito wanted Akito usually got except of course in the case of the owl. Yuki felt a spurt of triumph burn through his veins but then it was gone and it left only tired emptiness in its wake. He watched the grey sky and it felt as if it reflected his personality quite perfectly at this moment. He felt dull, and grey, and useless, being angry was only useful when it could get you something and being depressed wasn't worth the effort if there was no one there to watch you cry. The chill of a winter storm rolled down on the Sohma estate, the mist seemed to soak into your pores and made your soul as insubstantial as the mist.

It was on that somber note when a hoot cut through the mist at first Yuki wasn't sure if he'd heard right, it could be anything. He was about to go inside to escape the cold when another hoot sounded behind him. He whirled around and stared at the white owl that was flying towards him, _it can't be her_. He thought almost panicking, he may have admired her for standing up to Akito but he also was very afraid of her. At the last zodiac banquet she had caused Akito to scream and he had been in horrible pain, twitching for days after it was over. The owl who Yuki was almost positive was Aliya hooted feebly and for the first time Yuki noticed that Aliya's wing was bent at an unnatural angle and splotches of red were visible contrasting starkly with her pure white wings.

"What happened!" Yuki immediately walked forward and held out his arm so the owl could land. Aliya hooted at him again and landed on his small arm carefully so her claws wouldn't dig into his arm. _She must have gotten sick in the storm_. Yuki walked into his small drab room and gently put her down on his bed, she sat for a moment and then touched him softly on the face with her uninjured wing. Yuki looked at her hurt wing and touched it lightly, the small bird still flinched.

"Do you want me to go get Hatori?" The owl hooted in agreement, Yuki got up from his kneeling position and left to find Hatori. Moments later he was rushing back into the room with a tired looking Hatori behind him. When he reentered the room it was to find the Owl sitting in her human form under his covers completely naked. He stopped short a fiery blush burning across his face, her coal black eyes focused on him and he thought he saw a flash of something soft and warm flit through her gaze. Hatori slipped past Yuki and knelt down next to Aliya concern marring his normally cold expression.

"What happened?"Aliya's gaze shifted from the momentarily stunned Yuki to Hatori, a slight twitch of the corners of her lips was the only indication that she was smiling.

"Akito had me locked out in the storm, I transformed and managed to get back inside. But Akito found me and broke my wing, then he threw me out the window." She said all this in the space of a single moment her expression never wavered. Yuki shivered, he was glad it wasn't anything more serious like Hatori's eye. Hatori nodded as if he was not in the least bit surprised at the rough treatment she had endured.

"Let me see your arm."Aliya stretched out her arm which hung at an odd angle, it was splattered with large purple blotches which vaguely resembled hand prints. A long gash stretched from the crease of her elbow to the base of her wrist, it was bleeding sluggishly. The blood was strangely dark and shimmered slightly in contrast with her pale skin. Hatori began to clean her cut first and the proceeded to wrap it in bandages. He stilled for a moment and looked at Aliya before speaking.

"I will have to reset the bone or it won't heal properly." Aliya looked at him for a moment her dark eyes evaluating him something passed between them unspoken agreement made she nodded. Hatori sighed and turned to Yuki.

"You might want to stay outside Yuki it will be highly unpleasant."Yuki's eyes widened and he nodded franticly as he rushed out of the room. He stood outside the door and wondered how painful it would be to have the bone in his arm reset, he shivered again. And then he heard a slight shuffling sound, a pause and then a shrill scream rang out. After that a distinct click sounded, Yuki could only imagine it was the bone sliding back into place. A moment later Yuki entered the room to find Aliya laying on his bed cradling her arm carefully, there was no visible sign that she was in pain except perhaps a small tightening at the corner of her eyes. She looked up at the boy entering the room, and her lips twitched slightly in a small smile. Yuki smiled back, and at that moment Aliya knew that she had been wrong about the rat being cold and unfeeling and she knew that they would be friends. And at that moment Yuki knew that it had been foolish to fear the small girl curled under his covers and that she would be his first friend.

**-END FLASHBACK- **

**Authors note VERY IMPORTANT! **

**Hey guys it's me again I've been rereading all my fic's and was so embarrassed when I went over this one! I found so many errors! I'm so sorry! I write all my fics completely unbeta'd so errors aren't always caught until I reread, sorry, sorry, and sorry!!!! I hope I got all the errors this time if you catch any please tell me! I haven't updated this fic in forever, I've been stuck on my POTO fics and my new Gaia Online fic. Let me take this opportunity to explain a few things that have been confusing, 1. Kyo is not 'IN LOVE' with Aliya their relationship is more Mother/Son, 2. This is a Yuki/OC fic I know it hasn't really shown up yet but it will happen, 3. The flashbacks are very frequent I know it can be annoying but they contain important information essential to the fic. One quick question for my readers- Have none of you thought it strange that hatori has an entire TRUNK full of women's clothes? I thought the yaoi fans would immediately connect that to Hatori being a cross dresser. I should have another chapter out by the end of the week though. Thank you all for being patient with me! **

**-loopycathair signing out!**


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